Dhe mood was excellent. Hall 39 in Hildesheim was packed to the brim on Friday evening, and the audience was in the best of party moods, as was the case on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday evening the organizing PDC Europe even reported: sold out.
Appropriately, two Germans, Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler, made it into the second round of the German Darts Championship. Clemens slipped into the top 32 as a seed due to Gerwyn Price withdrawing due to injury, Schindler advanced with a convincing 6:5 over the Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena and not only thanks to a spectacular 132 finish (bull, bull, double 16) had the Hope nurtured to be able to take on Peter Wright in the next match.
Everything was prepared for an atmospheric evening, before the atmosphere changed again. Some of the 2000 spectators wrote the next chapter of that tiresome topic that has been accompanying the sport more and more intensively lately.
Two weeks earlier, at the start of the European Tour in Riesa, fans had caused annoyance with boos and abuse, primarily against opponents of German players. At that time, Kim Huybrechts and Peter Wright complained at the hall microphone on stage. And a week ago, Price failed in a high-class match at the UK Open against Michael Smith because spectators had deliberately disturbed the Welshman during his throws.
The emotional appeal to the audience
In Hildesheim, Dave Chisnall now experienced the concentrated lack of sportsmanship. Even the walk-on to his duel with Gabriel Clemens turned into a gauntlet run. During his throws on the double fields, attempts were made to influence the throwing movement with whistles and shouts. The mistakes that inevitably followed were loudly applauded.
The fact that the Englishman still had the upper hand 6:5 speaks for his nerves of steel. Nonetheless, Hall Announcer and Master of Ceremonies Philip Brzezinski felt compelled to make an appeal to the audience before asking Chisnall the usual questions about the match. “Before I do the interview, I want to say one thing at this point because it’s close to my heart. The guy is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. And even if he were the biggest fiend, none of the players deserve to be whistled at or booed up here when he throws at doubles,” said the PDC Europe official.
The audience’s reaction then confirmed the assumption that the “problem fans” were a minority. Loud applause erupted and it seemed as if Brzezinski was speaking from the heart of many of the spectators. During the match, it seemed as if many spectators would not annoy Chisnall with their whistles, but wanted this to be understood as a replica of the actual disturbers.
Victim of fan anger: Dave Chisnall was repeatedly disturbed in his litter
Quelle: Getty Images/Luke Walker
Brzezinski wasn’t finished yet: “It really doesn’t take anyone. Nobody needs it. Cheers on the German players, calls Gabriel Clemens’ name, then sings Martin Schindler’s name. It’s all OK. Nobody needs this whistling, this booing. Let’s be fair in sport and have a good evening together here.”
Impressive words, which one had also expected from the PDC after the discussions of the past weeks. So far, however, the problem has been accompanied in silence.
Especially since Brzezinski’s words had already died out on Sunday. Dimitri van den Bergh led 5:3 in his quarter final against Michael Smith. 70 points separated him from reaching the semi-finals. With the first dart, the Belgian hit the targeted triple 18 before the two match darts on the double 8, accompanied by loud screams from the audience, just missed their target. It was only thanks to Smith’s mistakes that van den Bergh was given another chance shortly afterwards and won.
Not much was missing and the fans would have cost him the win
Quelle: Getty Images/Luke Walker
The 27-year-old was satisfied with himself after the 6: 3 and in the winner’s interview he recalled “the 70 with the perfect triple 18. And then there are one or two guys in the audience who suddenly want to distract me like that and I miss the doubles. And I thought: ‘Dimi, you should know better than that.’” A sentence that reveals that the pros are now trying to adapt to the insults and unsportsmanlike behavior of the public. Not a good sign.
Influence that Michael van Gerwen would probably not touch at the moment. The Dutchman seems to have ended his descent and looks more stable than he has for a long time. After winning the second Premier League match day in a row on Thursday, the fallen dominator of darts now also triumphed in Hildesheim.
“Keep fighting, never give up,” he called his motto: “It means a lot to me. It feels phenomenal to win another tournament,” said MVG after beating Rob Cross 8:5 in the final. He had previously defeated Martin Lukeman on Sunday and, due to a back problem with Peter Wright, had gone through to the semi-finals without a fight, which he narrowly won against van den Bergh. For van Gerwen, who overtook Smith and James Wade in third place in the world rankings thanks to £25,000 in prize money, it was the first tournament win on the European Tour since 2019.
Challenge: Michael van Gerwen is number three in the world again
Source: PDC Europe/Kais Bodensieck
But also joy for Martin Schindler, who jumped into the top 60 in the world rankings with his participation in the second round and has replaced Florian Hempel as the German number two for the time being. Even more would have been possible for the 25-year-old in Hildesheim. Schindler delivered world champion Peter Wright an outstanding match on Saturday evening, consistently threw an average between 105 and 110 in the first five legs, led 4:1 thanks to checkouts after eleven, twelve, 14 and 16 darts, but then lost five legs in a row and so also give up the game.
More than respectable: Martin Schindler (right) offered Peter Wright an outstanding match
Source: PDC Europe/Kais Bodensieck
Schindler then rightly raved about the “breathtaking atmosphere” in Hildesheim. All the more annoying that some idiots managed to thwart the overall impression.
German Darts Championship Results
round of 16
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Martin Lukeman (ENG) 6:4
Peter Wright (SCO) – Krzysztof Ratajski (POL) 6: 4
Ryan Searle (ENG) – Dimitri van den Bergh (BEL) 1: 6
Michael Smith (ENG) – Dave Chisnall (ENG) 6:1
Joe Cullen (ENG) – Daryl Gurney (NIR) 3: 6
Jonny Clayton (WAL) – Mensur Suljovic (AUT) 6:4
Rob Cross (ENG) – Dirk van Duijvenbode (NED) 6:3
José de Sousa (POR) – Karel Sedlacek (CZE) 4: 6
Quarterfinals
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Peter Wright (SCO) without a fight
Dimitri van den Bergh (BEL) – Michael Smith (ENG) 6: 3
Daryl Gurney (NIR) – Jonny Clayton (WAL) 6:5
Rob Cross (ENG) – Karel Sedlacek (CZE) 6: 4
semifinals
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Dimitri van den Bergh (BEL) 7:6
Daryl Gurney (NIR) – Rob Cross (ENG) 4:7
Finale
Michael van Gerwen (NED) – Rob Cross (ENG) 8: 5
